A significant contribution to German-Russian cooperation: The presentation of the Russian Chrestomathy on German History

Dr. Walter Jürgen Schmid, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Moscow, invited a prestigious community of historians to his residence on May 21 2009, where a chrestomathy on German twentieth-century history, the result of a joint German-Russian project, was to be presented to the public. The solemn ceremony was accentuated by musical performances. The ambassador's speech was followed by an address from Russian co-editor Aleksandr O. Čubar’jan, who, as director of the Institute for World History at the Russian Academy of Science, emphasised that the book would prove to be highly useful at universities as well as in schools. Prof. Nina Deviatiaikina, a specialist in history didactics and herself a textbook author, proposed several suggestions for the implementation of the textbook in the classroom. Prof. Bernd Bonwetsch, director of the German Historical Institute, Moscow, acknowledged the book's attractive presentation of sources, and Olga Krasovskaja, Editor-in-Chief of the publishing house Olma-Press, underlined the didactic potential and the innovative character of a book developed via bilateral collaboration.

Contact: Robert Maier, maier(at)gei.de